01 Apr 2015

BancABC announced its first financial results ever since it was delisted from the Botswana stock exchange (BSE)  in 2014 with an attributable loss of P438 million.

When giving out the results, acting chief executive officer for BancABC, Dr Blessing Mudavanhu said the Group recorded an attributable loss of P438 million compared to an attributable profit of P198 million in 2013.

Dr Mudavanhu stated that the loss wasa result of challenges such as increased impairments, reduced margins and increased operating expenses. “We faced some reduced margins mainly because there was liquidity squeeze in the market at the end of 2014,” he said.

He highlighted that the bulk of credit impairment charges incurred during 2014 were, however primarily once off and should be seen as the group’s conservative approach towards managing credit risk. He further said the bank continued to focus on improving its credit management process and building a quality loan across all business segments.

However, Dr Mudavanhu said the group’s balance sheet remains strong stating that customer deposits, increase by 16 per cent deployed mostly into liquid assets as well as loans and advances. He also said cash and short term funds increased by 40 per cent which reflects the increased liquidity of the group’s balance sheet.

On the other hand, banking subsidiaries recorded an attributable loss of P65 million compared to an attributable profit of P372 million registered in 2013, with all entities registering a decline in profitability largely due to higher impairments.

Dr Mudavanhu stated that on operational performance, BancABC’s attributable profit of P71 million was 53 per cent lower than what was achieved in 2013. Performance was as a result of decline net interest margins as well as impairments which increased from P42 million in 2014.

For better improvement in 2015 and beyond, the Bank has listed Atlas Mara Limited as a shareholder which now holds 98.7 per cent of the shares in the group. Since the close of transactions, Atlas Mara has injected a total of US $100 million into the group. ENDS